The Birthday Gift
by aaobuttons
Summary: Story Set around Before I Sleep. What Rodney gives to Elizabeth for her Birthday. McWeir.
1. Searching

A little set up, the morning of Before I Sleep.

* * *

"Oh, there you are, where have you been all morning?" Rodney half accused, half inquired as he spied John sitting at the table drinking tea.

"Well, up until about five minutes ago, I was in bed. It's only 0700." He waved his watch in front of Rodney and got a slightly contrite reply of "Oh, so it is".

Rodney sat down across from John and leaned over conspiratorially, "Do you have any movies? Black and white ones to be precise."

With a slight smile on his face John leaned in equally close. "Maybe, Why?"

"Oh, no reason, just curious, I was just looking for one, and I thought you might have hidden some away." He sat up a bit straighter and tried to act like he didn't really care.

John wasn't fooled however. "Black and white ones huh... Nope, I don't have any."

Rodney started to get up, but John reached out and pulled him back into the conspiracy pose, hunched over the table. "But... If you tell me why you want it so bad, I'll give you some names of people who might." It was fun teasing Rodney, John never got tired of it. "It's your choice." He shrugged his shoulders and leaned back against the chair just sipping his tea while he looked at Rodney who was weighing his options with a growing look of distaste.

"Alright, fine!" he glowered, rolling his eyes. "It's for Elizabeth. Today is her birthday and I wanted to get her something. She likes old movies, hence me looking for black and white ones."

"Oh, well you could have just said so." John's grin grew as he paused before telling Rodney what he wanted to know. "Try Jenkins or Walker, I know they have movies. I think that environmental tech from Spain has some too, but they're probably in Spanish."

Rodney's glowering had turned into a small smile as he repeated the names before standing up. "Thanks John, see you later." He gave a half wave before turning and walking away.

As John watched Rodney go, a realization hit him. "Oh crap, he's going to get all the brownie points! I'm going to have to dig up something... Maybe Teyla knows what girls like."


	2. Wandering Thoughts

Thanks Purpleyin for the beta!

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"This day is going to be normal," Elizabeth told herself as she walked down the corridor, "or at least as normal as a day can be in a floating city."

The morning had been normal at least, and that was a good start. John had led a group into the unexplored parts of the city. While they had found several rooms they marked as promising, they had not found any more alternate selves like they had two days ago, and Elizabeth was extremely glad for that. When they had found that old woman in the chamber, they had been so excited. "Finally we get to meet one of the

Ancients!" they had all thought. When the old woman had become conscious, and introduced herself as Elizabeth Weir, Elizabeth's world had become very complex and confusing.

She had read the mission reports of SG teams and had known there could be another version of herself out there; she just hadn't expected to ever meet one. When she had, if that wasn't enough of a shock, the old

Elizabeth had told them that the original mission to Atlantis had failed. How she had led everyone to Atlantis only to die, mostly by drowning, and she had been the only survivor.

Giving an absent nod to the group she passed in the corridor, her thoughts traveled back to that alternate Elizabeth and the awful events of her Atlantis. She thought of Col. Sumner and his men, all of their faces flashing before her eyes; Bates, Stackhouse and Miller, all of whom had drowned along with the scientists. The scientists, the brightest and most talented, that she had hand picked for the mission. What a waste, to be lost to something as innocuous as water. She thought of Lt. Ford with his big smile and excited attitude who the alternate Elizabeth had said was in another jumper, but trapped because he didn't have the gene to fly it. She wondered what happened to him; did he slowly die of suffocation or did he open the jumper door and try and swim to the surface? Could he have made it, or would he have drowned too?

A knot had formed in her stomach and her chest had tightened; she tried to calm herself down, to focus on her feet as she walked, but then her thoughts traveled to John and Dr. Zelenka who had escaped with her other self. She could picture the whole scene in her mind, like she had been the one in the jumper with them. John, with his ancient gene had managed to transport them not only out of the flooded Atlantis, but also back in time 10,000 years. They had escaped, only to be shot down by the Wraith and killed. The tightening of her chest expanded to her shoulders and back, but she was too lost in thought to notice. Elizabeth wondered how she had survived. The alternate Elizabeth had told her that an Ancient named Janus had healed her wounds. How had he been able to heal her, but not John or Zelenka? Did they die in the crash, or were they alive when found, but too badly hurt to be saved? It just didn't seem fair that she, the person who got them all into the situation that ultimately killed them, would be the only survivor. She wondered if there could have possibly been other survivors. Could any of them have escaped? Maybe through broken glass or an open door and made their way to the surface. Maybe Rodney or Peter could have made it.

Elizabeth's steps faltered as she pictured Rodney, enveloped in swirling dark water. The same image that had been haunting her dreams the last two nights. She tried to take a deep breath, to calm herself, but found it difficult. That he had sacrificed himself to give her the chance to get away, it ate at her. She had known he was brave; his many missions with John had proved that. She had known he was able to put his life on the line; when he had used the personal shield to stop the shadow creature, and when he had stepped in front of Koyla's gun to protect her. Those however, were not certain death; there had been the chance that he would have been all right. This time though, he had chosen to work on opening the bay doors so she and the others could escape on the jumpers. He had let the waters reach the room, cutting off their only escape route. He had valued her life over his own, and he had died for it. As she tried to blink away the tears forming in her eyes, she stepped into the transporter that would take her towards the hydroponics lab.

When the doors opened, she didn't even look up; she just stared at the floor with unfocused eyes, trying to regain her composure. Starting forward she was stopped by a hand on her arm. She was startled by the contact; but when she looked up into Rodney's blue eyes she relaxed her body slightly. She sighed quietly to herself as she looked at the healthy and very much alive Rodney, a man who only moments ago to her had been consumed and lost to her forever.

"Are you ok?" he asked, his hand still on her arm. "You just about ran me over."

She gave him a small smile. His concerned face was full of warmth, and that warmth was slowly replacing the dark cold that had been filling her only moments before. "I'm fine; I was just thinking about something and wasn't paying attention."

He released her arm, not quite satisfied with her answer but not pressing. Motioning to the cart he had behind him he excitedly explained, "Ford just brought these to me. Some stuff they found during their search. I was on my way to the lab to look them over."

"Sounds fun," she tried to tease "but my stop sounds better."

Rodney looked dubious, and glanced down at the prizes on the cart. "What could be better than new Ancient artifacts?"

Her mood restoring itself every second she was in his presence; she tried to string it out. "Oh I don't know…. Just some little things called strawberries!"

"Strawberries!" He repeated his mouth slightly agape in his incredulity.

She grinned at his reaction. "Dr. Linsky called and told me the first strawberries had finally matured, and he wanted to show them to me in hydroponics. They finally found whatever it was that was killing the seedlings, so now we have strawberries!"

"Wow, strawberries… I thought we reached our peak when we got the tomatoes going, but strawberries?" Rodney started to rub his hands together in anticipation, but dropped them when he saw the smirk on Elizabeth's face. "Well, I better get going…. I have a lot of important stuff to work on."

He passed her onto the transport, his hand brushing hers momentarily. Her hand spasmed slightly as if to grab his when it touched; but he continued on past her pulling the cart behind him. The door started to close, but Rodney stuck his hand out to stop it. He looked down at the ground briefly but when he looked up again he had a slightly nervous grin on his face. "Hey, um, I have something pretty cool I want to show you later. Could I come by your room after dinner?"

Her curiosity peaked; she raised her eyebrow in query. "What no hints?" When he crossed his arms and leaned against the door with that smug expression on his face she knew she would get nothing out of him. "All right… How about you come over before dinner? I'll bring something up for us and you can show me your "pretty cool" thing."

He thought a moment before replying, his eyes concentrating on a space on the wall. "I should have it ready by then. That'll work for me. You can't see it until the sun sets though, so we'll have to eat first." Elizabeth let out a little laugh, and he rolled his eyes when he realized he had given away a clue. He started to laugh too though; her laugh was infectious to him, especially when her eyes held a bit of mischief in them like they did now.

They just stood there for a moment smiling, their eyes never leaving the others. Rodney finally broke the eye contact, stepping back into the transporter and unblocking the doors. Before the doors closed though, he called back out. "See you tonight!"

She nodded, and then he was gone. She turned around, away from the transporter, and suddenly felt very alone. There was no one in the corridor, and as she walked towards the lab she felt the dark cold of her previous thoughts start to fill her again. The image of Rodney drowning once more threatened to overtake her, but instead of letting it, she tried to change the image. Now, instead of water, it was strawberries. In her mind she saw him being buried in strawberries, and he was only too happy to eat his way out of them. The images got more extreme and crazy as she willed away the cold and forced deep slow breaths into her lungs. She had him throwing handfuls of strawberries in the air, and him swimming the backstroke through the red fruit. The silliness of the images gave her heart and she was free of the dark repetitions by the time she reached the hydroponics lab. If Dr. Linsky was willing, maybe she could take a few of the strawberries, and then she would have something "pretty cool" to show Rodney as well.

Chapters 3 and 4 are coming your way!


	3. Traveling Emotions

Elizabeth was at her desk looking over the latest mission reports when she heard a knock on her door. As she walked to the door she gave her room a quick glance to make sure everything was picked up . She had always been neat, so she wasn't expecting to find anything out of place, but her mother had always told her to make sure the house was presentable before welcoming guests. It wasn't like she had much to make a mess with anyways. While it was true that she had one of the largest rooms, she tried to think of it as a spacious loft, it was a poor comparison to her old house. Here in her 'spacious loft' she had a table, bed, dresser, desk, and two beautiful wood chairs that the Athosians had made for her. Her one guilty pleasure in her room was the balcony that overlooked the ocean. When she had found this room and the view it contained she had fallen in love with the place. She wasn't even sure it was originally used as living quarters; there weren't any other rooms like it in the area. She didn't mind though, it gave her some privacy not to have neighbors, and she liked the quiet while she worked late into the night.

When she opened the door, Rodney was standing outside with his hands behind his back. He had a grin on his face and was vibrating with excitement. "Lizabeth," he said by way of greeting.

"Rodney" she replied, returning his grin with one of her own. She arched her eyebrow and made no move to unblock the entrance to her room. "You're late."

"I am, but you'll forgive me." He replied without a trace of remorse, the grin if anything getting wider. He peered over her shoulder into her room, not oblivious to the fact that she was refusing him entrance.

"Oh I will, will I…. Now why is that?" She had already forgiven him, but was willing to take his bait and play along. Rodney in a good mood was a rare thing these days, and she had missed it.

"Because I have a present for you, that's why." He paused expecting her to react, and when she didn't he became slightly perturbed, both at her lack of reaction and for deflating his mood, "Well are you going to let me in or are you going to keep me out here all night?"

She laughed at his whine and moved out of the doorway so he could enter. He stepped in sideways to conceal the present behind him, but momentarily forgot about it when the ocean breeze brought the smell of stew over to him. He turned his back to her, the present still behind him, as he tried to locate the source of the savory aroma.

Elizabeth, still in a playful mood, saw her opportunity at his inattention and plucked the rectangular silver present out of Rodney's hand. He spun around, ready to snap at her like he would one of the lab techs, but when he met her eyes and saw the mischief and playful victory in them, he softened and grinned at her.

"Soooo, what is it?" she asked fingering the intricate carvings on the top and sides, and noticing the slits on the sides and at one end.

"It's ah… It's your birthday present." Rodney replied a bit hesitantly. This wasn't exactly how he had planned on presenting it to her, but... "Well I mean this is part of it, there's more, this is just the part you need right now."

"But it's not my birth—" she cut herself off as comprehension came to her, "You were the one who told John about my birthday! But how did you know?"

"Last year in Antarctica; you got cookies from that friend of yours and you shared them with everybody, you said it was for your birthday." Rodney was trying to stay jovial to keep in the mood Elizabeth was emanating, but the knowledge that John had beaten him to wishing Elizabeth a happy birthday was sinking his happy feelings. Casually he asked, "So John said Happy Birthday, huh?"

"Hmm, yes." Elizabeth answered distractedly. She was still looking over the present Rodney had given her, trying to figure it out so he wouldn't have to explain it to her. "He gave me a very nice Athosian jar that morning before…" and her face fell slightly remembering the events of that day, "everything got so busy."

Rodney couldn't believe that Sheppard had gone behind his back and given Elizabeth a present! The Major wouldn't have even known about her birthday if he hadn't told him. "I had meant to give this to you on your birthday but then with everything that happened I just didn't have time. Here, I'll show you." He grabbed the box from her and raced across the room. He swung open the balcony doors and disappeared into the darkness outside.

She stifled a scream in her throat as the nightmares, Rodney being enveloped and lost in darkness, suddenly came true. Without thinking and still caught up in her nightmare, she raced after him, no thought in her mind except to find him, to save him from the certain death that darkness meant. Just as she reached the balcony door, a white light enveloped her and she was momentarily blinded.

"Hold on, I just have to adjust…" She heard Rodney say as the light started to dim and focus its beam out towards the ocean.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked confused, her eyes starting to adjust again. So much light coming out of such a little box, she had no idea what it could possibly be for. She was just glad that Rodney was okay, and chided herself for her loss of control and irrational fear.

Rodney took a step back standing next to Elizabeth, the box still in his hands since there was no place to set it on, and grinned like a school boy declaring, "May I present to you, your own personal home theater system!"

"My what?" Elizabeth exclaimed, not understanding what he meant.

"Look," Rodney said pointing out into the air past the balcony. He pushed one of the carvings and an image appeared out in the air. It was numbered one, two, three, and four. "It projects whatever is programmed into it into the air; you can adjust the size too." He demonstrated by shrinking the image to mere inches from her to expanding it where it filled most of the sky in front of her. "It's got great surround sound too." He added excitedly.

Elizabeth was trying to take it all in, what he was showing her was amazing. Those numbers were crystal clear and looked like she could touch them if she wanted, even when they were enlarged to ten feet tall. She was wondering what she could do with something like that when Rodney said, "Um, I took the liberty of programming a few movies into it for you. I didn't have much of a selection, but I remembered you liked old movies so you've got Roman Holiday on number one, The Sound of Music on number two, It Happened One Night on number three, and Bringing Up Baby on number four." He counted them off on his fingers, pleased with himself for remembering all the names since he had never heard of any of them besides The Sound of Music. He had been assured by Jenkins that they were all great movies.

"Oh!" Elizabeth exclaimed, suddenly realizing just what Rodney had done for her, "You've made me my own personal drive in theater!" She clapped her hands excitedly, remembering back to her childhood and all the fun times she had had with her family at the local drive in complex.

Momentarily confused by the 'drive in theater' Rodney remembered what she was talking about, picturing a large screen out in the middle of nowhere where cars drove up and people put these speakers in their doors so they could watch the movie while making out. He'd never actually been to a drive in theater, he'd gone occasionally to the indoor theater, but he father wasn't one to waste money on the kids so he most often got to see his movies on the television. "Well, actually, I was thinking more like a big screen TV, but yeah, drive in theater works too." Whatever made Elizabeth happy worked for Rodney, he was just glad she liked it; he had been so worried she would think it stupid.

She reached for the box, brushing her fingers against his while taking a hold of it. She didn't seem to notice the contact, so eager to play with her new toy, but Rodney noticed; he noticed how soft her skin was, and when he looked up into her face saw her cheeks flushed with excitement and her eyes shining with delight. With her hair blowing in the light breeze he decided that she had never looked more beautiful and he was more than happy to give up the box just so he could have another second to look at her.

"What?" She asked, her voice giddy as she realized he was watching her. She looked back down at the box and starting pushing the carvings, watching as different images came up from the movies; all crystal clear, even the older ones that should have been grainy, what wonderful Ancient technology!

"Oh, nothing, I was just wondering if you liked your birthday present?" he said, fumbling for an explanation. "I mean, it's better than a jar right?"

Elizabeth laughed, and went to give Rodney a quick hug, "It's the best birthday present, thank you so much Rodney!"

As she embraced him she felt his body tense slightly, then relax as he wrapped his arms around her. It felt nice to be in his arms she realized, his body warm and comforting, and she found herself wanting to stay there for what was quickly becoming an inappropriately long time for a friendly hug. She pulled back, his arms neither tightening around her to keep her nor pushing her away to end the contact. He was simply there, waiting for her to decide the course of action.

"Are you hungry?" she asked stepping away towards the door, hoping that some space would clear her head.

"Famished!" was Rodney's instant response as he headed back into Elizabeth's room towards the covered pot of stew on her table.

Elizabeth looked down at the movie box still in her hand and had an idea. Walking over to Rodney she lightly placed her hand on his, stopping him from removing the pot cover. When he looked over at her she asked, her eyes gleaming, "Would you help me with the bed first?"

* * *

Thanks to Porthos and Purpleyin for the betas!

One more chapter to go!


	4. Normal

_Last time on Atlantis:_

_Elizabeth looked down at the movie box still in her hand and had an idea. Walking over to Rodney she lightly placed her hand on his, stopping him from removing the pot cover. When he looked over at her she asked, her eyes gleaming, "Would you help me with the bed first?"_

It was a good thing that Elizabeth had held down his hand on the pot cover, because if he had lifted it up he would have surely dropped it at her question. As it was, he had to concentrate on keeping the hand she was touching still so she wouldn't notice his slight shake. "The bed?" he asked, his eyes flicking first to the furniture, and then back to Elizabeth's eyes.

Elizabeth let go of his hand and walked back towards the bed, "We'll be too uncomfortable if I just take out the blanket; and I don't know about you, but my backside needs some padding!"

At the mention of her backside, Rodney's eyes were momentarily drawn to that particular part of her body. After a moment of pondering things a friend and coworker should definitely not be pondering, he visibly shook his head as if to shake the thoughts out, and scurried over to help Elizabeth lift the mattress she was attempting to move to the balcony.

By the time they were ready to sit down and watch the movie, Rodney was sure they had ended up bringing almost half of Elizabeth's belongings out on to the balcony. In addition to the mattress, there were her pillows (because the back wall was uncomfortable too), and two of her chairs that they had stacked so they could put the box above the balcony railing. As Rodney sat down on the bed, finally able to eat the stew that had been promised him, he asked, "So what movie are we going to watch?" He hoped it wasn't The Sound of Music; he had never been much for happy sing-a-longs.

"I was thinking Roman Holiday." Elizabeth answered, as she closed the door to her room behind her. "It's about a princess who has the responsibility and duty of her people that she has to deal with every day, and all she wants is to be a normal girl. So, she runs away." Remembering which buttons to push on the box, she was again delighted by the clarity of the image that sprung across the sky above them. She sat down next to Rodney and gratefully accepted the bowl he passed to her as the opening credits rolled. She was glad she had not bothered removing the blankets off her mattress; she had a feeling that with that cool ocean breeze she would soon need to be snuggled under them.

They were just getting to the part where Joe Bradley found Princess Anne when her earpiece chirped. "Dr. Weir." she answered, annoyed at the interruption. Rodney moved to pause the movie, but she placed her hand on his arm and shook her head indicating she wanted him to stay.

"Dr. Weir," she heard the familiar voice of Peter Grodin in her left ear, "I've been getting a few strange reports of—"

"Let me guess," Elizabeth interrupted, a small smile spreading across her face as she watched the roguish reporter trying to help the princess into the taxi, "Could it be an old black and white movie ten stories tall playing in the air on the east side of the city?"

"Uh, yes actually; you can see it then?" Peter asked uncertainly in his distinct accent.

"Yes, I have a great view from my balcony actually; Rodney gave it to me for my birthday." Rodney heard her say to whom he was guessing was Peter on the other end of the conversation. He groaned inwardly, and would have shrunk further into the mattress if he hadn't already been uncomfortably slouched into it. He had been embarrassed enough with Major Sheppard and Jenkins knowing about his gift for Elizabeth, and the way the gossip was here on Atlantis, if she was talking to some loudmouth like Crawford or Slovsky, he would never hear the end of it! He fervently hoped she was talking to Peter since the Brit could at least keep his mouth shut.

"Now, is there anything else Peter? I'm missing my movie." Rodney thought he heard weariness in her voice, but she still had that smile on her face so he ignored it, sighing in relief that it was definitely Peter Grodin she was speaking to.

She didn't say anything after she finished talking to Peter, so Rodney went back to watching the movie and eating his stew. He was enjoying the large chunks of meat in it, and imagined it was chicken… or at least chicken like. After a few moments he looked over towards Elizabeth and saw that she was fingering her earpiece, letting it roll back and forth between her fingertips. "Is there something wrong with it?", if it was acting up he could easily fix it.

"No, it's fine." She replied quietly, her eyes unfocused. "You know," her voice held that weary tone he had thought he heard earlier. "Sometimes I just want to be a normal girl too". It took him a moment to remember what she had said earlier about Princess Anne. Looking up at the princess and then back at Elizabeth he didn't really know what to say. He wasn't the best at "feel better" words, but he wanted to do something to lift her spirits. He placed his hand on hers, feeling her cool skin against his as he lifted up the earpiece she had been holding. Taking his earpiece out as well, he turned them off and set them down on the ground. "There we are, no more Peter, no more mundane annoyances. We're just two normal people trying to eat our stew and watch a movie."

"But what if there's an emergency?" Elizabeth protested as she tried to reach over him to turn her earpiece back on.

He almost spilt his stew onto his lap as he slid them out of reach and grabbed her hand so he could explain. "Hey, Peter knows we're here, if there's some sort of major crisis that can't wait till the movie is over then he can send someone down here to bang on the door!" Sensing her relax a bit, he let go of her and added, "You know, you should finish your stew, it'll warm you up; your hands are cold."

They had finished their stew a good half hour ago and the warming affects were starting to wear off of Elizabeth. Shivering slightly she asked Rodney, "Is it just me or is it a bit chilly out here?" He grunted, absorbed in the scene of the princess stealing a motorbike, so she tried again, "Do you mind if we get under the blanket?"

"Huh? Oh yeah." He said it somewhat guiltily for not offering earlier. He helped pull out the blanket from under them and as he put his arm out against the wall to slide back into a sitting position, Elizabeth leaned back against it. He froze and watched her momentarily stiffen as if unsure what to do, before relaxing and moving in closer to him, her body resting against his chest and shoulder. Rodney didn't know what do, he hadn't meant to invite that kind of closeness, at least not consciously; he had been distracted by the movie and had just sort of… done it. He tried to keep his heart from racing as he thought about the position he was in, holding Elizabeth so close against him, but it was proving to be too difficult and he finally gave up, hoping she didn't notice his interest. She was warm and soft against him, and her hair smelled like some flower from Earth he couldn't recall the name of. He couldn't remember a time when he was both so elated and mortified, and before he started to panic, he made himself focus in on the movie.

Elizabeth didn't move much at all throughout the rest of the movie, and Rodney was just fine with that. After the initial shock had worn off he realized just how much he liked her there in his arms, it felt so natural, like she just fit there. As the credits rolled, he moved his arm so that she could get up but she didn't. "Elizabeth?" he asked quietly when where was no response. Realizing she was asleep, Rodney just sat there, unsure of what he was supposed to do. He didn't want to wake her, but he really didn't think it was appropriate to stay on her balcony all night holding her while she slept. Awkwardly, he removed one of the displaced pillows and tossed it to the far side of the bed. Then, as gently as he could manage, he laid her down onto the pillow and covered her with the blanket they had been sharing. He'd simply come back in the morning and help her move everything off the balcony and back into the room.

Rodney began to leave, the long day and events of the evening starting to take its toll on him as well, but stopped and looked over at his Elizabeth. Well, not his Elizabeth, he knew he had no claim on her to call her that; but maybe for just tonight it would be okay. With her asleep who else would know, and didn't he just spend the evening with her in his embrace? He didn't for the life of him know what that meant if anything, but he was willing to hold onto it and not ask questions. Maybe if she could pretend to be just a normal girl tonight he could just pretend to be a normal guy and not worry about what the night would mean to Dr. Elizabeth Weir and Dr. Rodney McKay.

Bending down towards her face, Rodney fingered a lock of her wavy brown hair that had fallen across her eyes and gently tucked it back behind her ear. Impulsively, he leaned over and pressed his lips ever so lightly against her forehead; fervently hoping she didn't wake. As he pulled back he saw a small smile appear on her face, but she was otherwise still, resting comfortably under the warm blanket.

As he walked towards the door, his foot kicked the earpieces that he had pushed away earlier. They skidded across the balcony floor and came to a stop against a bundled scarf. Rodney picked up the earpieces, deciding to leave Elizabeth's inside, and went to scoop up the scarf. It was heavy he realized, and when he untied it he stared in disbelief at the pile of fresh red strawberries. He looked back over at Elizabeth, slightly guilty as if he had opened something forbidden. She must have gotten them for dessert, and had fallen asleep before she could give him the surprise. He thought briefly about taking them with him to his room, but then he rewrapped them and set them back down on the balcony. It was her surprise for him and he didn't want to spoil it for her.

He took a step into the room and turned back to take one last look his Elizabeth. His normal girl was sound asleep and when she woke everything would be back to like it was before. He gave a silent sigh and let his gaze fall to the bag of strawberries instead. Kneeling down he opened the scarf once more, picking up one of the strawberries before closing it again, and walking towards the door. She wouldn't miss one single strawberry, and it would tide him over until she decided to give him her gift herself. She might even invite him back over for another movie if he was lucky, another normal night; she did still have three movies left. With that thought bolstering him, he closed the door behind him and popped the strawberry in his mouth before turning towards his lab. It wasn't that late and the wonders of Atlantis beckoned.

The End!

Thank you so so much Hans and LittleKnux, you are the best betas ever!


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